Speedwatch

This evening, Jade Farrington and I joined the Launceston Police Cadets and police staff to carry out a community speedwatch event on Western Road.

An event like this is based around education. The cadets get to see what speeding looks like and the drivers who go too fast are educated about the dangers that speeding poses. There aren't any tickets handed out for drivers who are going just too fast, but they are reminded by the cadets and officers about the problems and dangers of speeding.

Whilst we were with the cadets, we saw about a dozen cars pulled over. All but one that I saw were doing just over the limit. The driver who was doing 44mph got a more serious talking to from the police officer who was with us.

I know that the police team can sometimes go out with school groups and residents associations to do a similar exercise. It is particularly helpful in showing the difference between cars that really are speeding and those that simply give the impression of doing so. It's amazing what a loud exhaust does to give the impression of speed. If you are a member of a group that is interested in such an exercise, contact the local community policing team.


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Tory Police Commissioner's £650 per month rent paid for by taxpayers (even though he could stay at the office for free)

It seems that the Conservative Police Commissioner for Devon and Cornwall has decided to help himself to £650 per month of taxpayer money as a housing allowance. Tony Hogg says he needs the cash to be able to stay near Police HQ in Exeter (he comes from Helston). The full story is in the Mail on Sunday.

The trouble is that not only is this yet another drain on police resources, but it is totally unnecessary. The police HQ has ensuite visitor accommodation designed for overnight stays and which was used by members of the old police authority. However Mr Hogg has said that he does not think it is 'appropriate' for him. Instead, he wanted money to be able to stay with chums at a local naval base.

It seems that Tony Hogg's first instinct is to put his hand in the taxpayer's pocket and expect them to pay for his whims. He seems to forget he is already getting £85,000 a year of our money.

Modern technology means that he doesn't need to be sitting next to the Chief Constable or to his own personal staff to be able to do the job properly. He had the option to base his office anywhere in Devon or Cornwall but he chose Exeter. If he doesn't like the idea of commuting then he could use the free accommodation on offer. Or he could well afford to buy or rent his own flat in the city rather than charging accommodation to the taxpayer.

Taxpayers were promised that the new police commissioners would save money compared to the old police authorities. But Tony Hogg has already taken on more staff than under the old system and has spent a further quarter of a million on consultants and agency staff. This latest revelation adds insult to injury. In the past week, Mr Hogg wrote to the government asking for more money for frontline police officers in our area. How can he be taken seriously when he is diverting money which could be used for bobbies on the beat and using it to pad out his £85,000 salary with unnecessary expenses.

I have written to Mr Hogg today asking him to justify the expenses. If, as the newspaper article claims, he has chosen to ignore free accommodation then I believe that he should be paying for any alternative out of his own pocket.

UPDATE - Tony Hogg has responded via his own website here.

UPDATE 2 - The chair of the Police Federation in Devon and Cornwall has had called Mr Hogg's assertions 'nonsense'.

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Police Commissioner's quarter million pound consultants and agency staff bill

Devon and Cornwall's new Police and Crime Commissioner has run up a bill for consultants and agency staff of almost a quarter of a million pounds since he took office in November.

The spending includes payments to a 'senior advisor' who is the wife of a former navy colleague.

Police Commissioners across the country have been attacked over their spending on increasing full-time staff numbers for their private offices, but this is the first time I have seen any details of the amounts spent on consultants.

As soon as he was appointed, Devon and Cornwall's commissioner recruited a spin doctor on between £40,777 and £50,418. In addition, he took on all of the staff previously employed to run the Police Authority.

But whilst other commissioners have appointed Deputies on £60k salaries, our local commissioner has instead spent even more on consultants. These have included 'advisors on organisational change' and 'strategic human resources services' despite the very limited amount of change in staff compared to the old Police Authority.

In total, the amount spent in the six months since November is £235,925.62.

Of course, Cornwall Council is not a paragon of virtue when it comes to spending on consultants and agency staff. But the new administration has already set in motion a programme to cut these amounts and, where possible, transfer agency staff who are working for the authority on roles that will always be needed onto cheaper full-time contracts. Our spending in this area is going down.

Like the council, I can understand that the Police Commissioner might well need agency staff or expert outside advice from consultants from time to time. But these amounts - in just six months - are quite incredible.

You can find the details of all the Police Commissioner's agency and consultant payments here.

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Lance goes missing

Lance Kennedy was missing again from today’s meeting of Devon and Cornwall’s Police and Crime Panel. That’s the body which oversees the work of the elected Commissioner. It’s the second meeting in a row that Lance has missed and he is meant to be the Vice Chair of the panel.

The panel is not a trivial thing and the last meeting considered the three biggest subjects within its remit - the appointment of the new Chief Constable, the Commissioner’s Police and Crime Plan and the council tax precept. Today’s meeting is also not a small matter as the Commissioner is presenting the final version of his plan and it is a chance to hold him to account for his work to date.

Lance’s absence is all the more serious because he is the Cornwall councillor in charge of public protection. He is paid £16,000 per year (in addition to the £12,000 basic allowance) to take lead responsibility on policing and community safety. The fact that he has not turned up to the last two meetings of the panel seems to me like dereliction of duty.

When Lance was a police officer, if he failed to turn up for work then he would have faced some very serious consequences. Surely when he is Cornwall’s senior elected member responsible for community safety then he should be held to the same standards.


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Chief Constable sends out 'no compromise' message re force values

Congratulations to Devon and Cornwall's new Chief Constable on the message he has sent out about the force's values. His no compromise message highlights the dangers that face our force at a time when public confidence in the police has been shaken.

I don't believe that there is any systemic or individual problem in Devon and Cornwall Police that will cause the public to lose trust. But we cannot avoid the fact that the phone hacking saga, arrests and allegations of improper police behaviour and relationships with journalists have done much to shake the national confidence.

It would be all too easy for a force like Devon and Cornwall to sit back and believe that this is a problem that does not affect them. But Shaun Sawyer has not done that. He has issued a message to all members of his force which set out the values that the public expects them to uphold and which he will not compromise on.

Mr Sawyer says:

"I am serious about making sure everyone understands, signs up to, delivers and demonstrates the Forces values.

Some people seem to take the view that we must choose between meeting targets and abiding by our values. This is false. We will not reward people for hitting targets in an unethical way that is inconsistent with our mission, vision and values.

Our communities will only trust in us if we provide them with the best possible service. I will not accept performance that compromises either demonstrating our values or our focus on driving down crime and protecting those most vulnerable; to do so would be to do the public and ourselves a disservice."

Hear, hear

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Conservatives cost you more - Police Special

Policing costs in Devon and Cornwall will be going up in the coming year thanks to Conservative Police Commissioner Tony Hogg and the rubber stamp of the Tory dominated Police and Crime Panel.

At today's meeting, the panel discussed Commissioner Hogg's desire for a referendum-cheating 2% rise in his council tax precept. Cornish Lib Dem councillor Adam Paynter led the charge against the rise.

Of course, all budgets are under pressure and the police force has seen officer numbers cut as the pressures tighten. But the bit of Commissioner Hogg's budget that seems more bloated than it need be are his own office costs. The abolition of the old police authority promised that these costs would come down. Sure the commissioner is paid a big salary, but the panel members operate for travel costs only rather than the special allowance received by the old authority members.

But not in Commissioner Hogg's world. He is budgeting for his office and staff costs to match those of the old authority - and perhaps rise even higher. Already he has a spin doctor on £60,000 and has hired the wife of an old navy chum as his 'senior adviser'. As a former chief finance officer for Devon, she is well qualified in many respects, but it seems strange that there was no open recruitment process.

Tory and Labour members all voted for the 2% rise, but Adam Paynter did not.

Incidentally, Cornwall's voice was much muted at the meeting. Although I was absent as part of the interview panel for Cornwall's interim Chief Executive, I had arranged for Adam to attend in my place as rules allow. The other Lib Dem from Cornwall, Paula Dolphin, was also there. So too was Bill Maddern - one of the two Conservatives. Lance Kennedy was nowhere to be seen and had not sent a sub. Neither had Indie John Wood who was also tied up in the interviews in Truro all day but hadn't nominated a replacement.

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One rule for councils, another for Police Commissioners it seems

When a number of councils proposed raising council tax by just under the Government's threshold of 2%, local government minister Brandon Lewis accused them of 'democracy dodging'.

Now that Police Commissioner Tony Hogg has proposed a precept rise for Devon and Cornwall of 2%, the silence from Mr Lewis is stunning.


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Meeting with Commissioner Hogg

Today saw the first meeting for the new Police and Crime Panel with Commissioner Tony Hogg - the person elected to set the strategic direction for the police and to oversee their budget and work. It's a complicated relationship. Mr Hogg oversees the police and we scrutinise his work.

The main business was the first look at the Commissioner's draft crime and policing plan for the coming year. In this plan he will set out what he believes the key strategic focus should be and he will set performance targets.

Mr Hogg told us that his key priorities would be support for victims, listening to residents, putting more effort into 'hidden crimes' such as domestic violence and dealing with hate crimes. I cannot fault him on these priorities. But the draft document that he talked through seemed to indicate that everything was a priority so I asked him what was less important to him. He refused to answer this directly but indicated that if it was not listed in the document then it was probably less of a priority. My concern is that there are some pretty big areas which I could not see listed and I would have liked a direct answer on what level of focus he would give to them. The police (and the commissioner) cannot focus on everything, but I think there should be transparency about what is more important.

But much of what was in the draft plan is admirable. I like the fact that the commissioner believes he can influence change in the economy, health and wellbeing, business and to help young people reach their potential. It's a tough ask, but it is good that he is looking that way.

Mr Hogg was also asked about his office and support network and whether he would be appointing deputies and other staff - an issue that has been controversial in other areas. To date Mr Hogg has directly appointed a chief adviser and his office has taken on a Communications Manager. Mr Hogg told us that he would be appointing other advisers, including a victims adviser as a first priority. My notes say that he said he would consider appointing a Deputy in due course although his office have subsequently said that he has no plans to appoint a deputy.

A question was asked about the appointment process and whether this would be through open advertising and recruitment. Mr Hogg gave a commitment to advertising the victims adviser position but not necessarily other posts. I am concerned that public money (typically £60k for a Deputy) should not be spent without a proper appointment process and will be following this up. The people appointed should be the best available, not just people the commissioner knows or has recommended to him by his chums.

Finally, I asked the commissioner about the leak of the name of his proposed candidate for Chief Constable. The acting Chief Constable, Shaun Sawyer, was announced by Mr Hogg on Tuesday morning at 10am. However there had been a leak to the BBC who were running the story much earlier. Mr Hogg assured me that the leak did not come from him (and I take him at his word) although he said he could not give the same guarantee about his staff. I think it is very unfortunate that there is already a culture of leaking somewhere within the new set-up and hope that it stops.

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Police elections - how to vote

One thing that will be new to almost everyone who turns out to vote in the Police Commissioner elections next Thursday is the voting system. The Supplementary Vote (SV) system gives you a chance to make two choices.

The ballot paper has two columns - for a first choice and a second choice. In each case you mark your preference with an X.

So long as you mark a first choice, your vote will count. But you also have the chance to say who your second preference is with another X. Obviously if you cast it for the same candidate as your first preference then it won't count - but your first preference will still be valid.

What does this mean in practice? In order to win, a candidate needs to have a majority (ie over half) of the first preference votes. If no one has this majority then the top two vote-getters go through to the second round. All the ballot papers cast for the remaining candidates are examined and if the second preferences are cast for one of the top two then these votes are transferred to the second choice. The second choice votes are added to the first and the person with the most votes wins.

Although this gives voters a little more voting power, it's a far from perfect system. The Alternative Vote (AV) system rejected by voters in the referendum last year is far better.

What's wrong with SV? Well for a start, voters have to guess who will make it through to the top two if they want to make sure that their vote will count. If neither of their preferences is for one of the top two then their vote is, effectively, wasted. And with ten candidates on the ballot in Devon and Cornwall for an entirely new position with no voting history, this might be a challenge even for ardent political geeks like me.

For an example from history, look at the first London Mayoral election back in 2000. In that election, the official Labour candidate failed to make the top two. So a voter who chose a fringe candidate as their first choice and put Labour second might have thought they were voting with their heart first and head second. But in the end neither vote counted.

In my view the ideal voting system should not involve tactical voting or guesswork of this sort.

And there is no guarantee that the ultimate winner will secure more than half the votes cast. In most SV elections in the UK (the system has previously been used for a number of mayoral elections in 12 towns and cities), comparatively few people have ended up casting a second preference vote that transfers. That's not to say the second preference votes that do transfer don't matter - in many cases they have been crucial. But a combination of lack of understanding of the system and poor guesswork leaves most voters out in the cold.

Next Thursday electors should go out and cast their first preference for the candidate they think will do the best job as Police Commissioner. If they truly want their second preference to have a chance of counting, then they should use this for someone they think will end up being in the top two. Historically, local elections in Devon and Cornwall have been between the Lib Dems and Conservatives across most of the patch and between Labour and Conservatives in the cities. To be honest, a voter not including one of those three as either their first or second preference is unlikely to see their vote count. And even I as a member of one of those parties thinks that is wrong.

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Police Elections - Home Office foul up means people don't know who they are voting for

Just about the only thing that's been said about the Police and Crime Commissioner election is how little people know about it.

The poll takes place next Thursday and, here in Devon and Cornwall there are ten candidates standing. Of these, four represent political parties and six describe themselves as independents.

Of course, I'm biased. I think that the Lib Dem candidate Brian Blake is the best qualified for the job. He's an ex copper and will bring a wealth of practical experience to the role.

But people will want to make their own mind up, so how can they do so?

Radio Cornwall have done a grand job - organising two hustings events which are being broadcast today. But with such a vast area covered by the election, the chances of getting leaflets through your door - particularly from the independents - is remote. Many people will go online - and all the candidates have websites - but what it you have no internet access?

The Home Office have set up a hotline with the number advertised on the information booklet that has been sent to every household. You are supposed to be able to call that number and be sent a print out of the candidate statements. Except that those who have tried this have yet to receive anything.

I've had a number of calls from local residents with postal votes who have asked for this information but not received it. They are getting very anxious about whether they will be able to vote at all if they don't feel confident that they know something about the candidates.

I've asked the council to look at this situation as a matter of urgency. Cornwall's Chief Executive, Kevin Lavery, took the role of chief returning officer over the objections of councillors. In doing so, he took on partial responsibility for making sure that people understand how they vote. Given the failure of the Home Office to get information out, I believe it falls on Mr Lavery to take action. It's not his fault that the Home Office have failed - but I think he should be picking up the pieces.

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Challenging the new Police Commissioner (before they are even elected)

Today saw the first meeting of the new Devon and Cornwall Police and Crime Panel, the committee which will oversee and scrutinise the work of the soon-to-be-elected Commissioner.

There are 16 councillor members - five from Cornwall, one from the Isles of Scilly, two from Plymouth, one from Torbay Unitary, one from Devon County Council and one from each of the district councils in Devon. In addition, we have appointed two lay members.

Today was mostly about briefings and understanding the role. But the real works starts once the Commissioner is elected on the 15th November. The Panel will then scrutinise his or her budget and crime reduction plan as well as holding confirmation hearings for appointments to top jobs including the Chief Constable.

Already I have used my membership of the panel to question the decision by the outgoing Police Authority to advertise for a £55,000 a year spin doctor for the new commissioner. I think there are higher priorities than this for spending public money. Even if a press officer is needed, the going rate for such a job is a lot less than £55k.

I was also disappointed that there was talk of the new Commissioner having a team 'equivalent to a Minister's Private Office'. That implies quite a large staff of special advisors and spin doctors - altogether excessive for the task at hand. We'll have to see where the new Commissioner decides his or her priorities lie. Will it be to build up a fiefdom or to put resources back on the street?

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£55k for a Police Commissioner spin doctor as crime rises

Cornwall is still one of the safest places to live in the UK, but our police area has nevertheless seen an increase in recorded (ie serious) crime of 7% in the past year.

I'm disappointed, therefore, that the out-going Police Authority has decided to spend £55,000 recruiting a new press officer for the incoming Police Commissioner. There needs to be a competent back up team for the new person, but I question whether a £55k spin doctor is the right use of resources.

I'm one of five Cornwall Councillors who sits on the scrutiny panel over-seeing the work of the commissioner. I'm disappointed that this proposal hasn't come to us for comment and I'll be seeking to raise the issue when we meet on Monday.

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Devon & Cornwall Police and Crime Panel - first meeting

The shadow police and crime panel for Devon and Cornwall met this afternoon for the first (and only) time. The next time it convenes will be to begin the process of holding the new elected Police and Crime Commissioner to account.

The Police and Crime Commissioner is an elected post which replaces the current Police Authority. It is the brainwave of the Conservatives and is being created to provide an accountable and human face to law enforcement. The new person will have the power to hire and fire the Chief Constable and to set the strategic aims of the police service.

The Panel is meant to provide checks and balances on the Commissioner. It is made up of all the local councils in Devon and Cornwall with membership in rough proportion to population. So each of the Devon districts, plus Devon County Council and Torbay Unitary have one representative. The Council of the Isles of Scilly has one rep, Plymouth City Council has two and Cornwall Council has five. Overall there are ten Conservatives, three Labour members, three Lib Dems and two Independents. A further two co-opted, non-councillor members will be appointed before October.

Today's meeting, which I attended as one of the Cornwall reps, was largely procedural, electing a Chair and Vice Chair for the term of the shadow panel (ie just today) and, mnore importantly, setting up a work programme for how we will scrutinise the work of the Commissioner. Two of his first tasks will be to appoint a new Chief Constable (the Panel will hold a confirmation hearing and has the power to veto an appointment) and to set a crime reduction strategy for Devon and Cornwall. The Panel will have extensive input into the latter.

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CORRECTION - Lance hasn't made it

My apologies for the error in a previous post. It now appears that Cornwall Councillor Lance Kennedy is not in the final three for the Tory nomination to be Police and Crime Commissioner candidate.

My commiserations to Lance.


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Tory establishment find their man (and it isn't Lance)

Poor old Lance Kennedy.

The Conservative Party establishment, desperate not to have him as their candidate for the Police Commissioner elections later this year, have now found their man.

Graeme Demianyk of the Western Morning News has the story that former Culdrose boss Commander Tony Hogg has been asked by George Eustice MP to put his name in the frame.

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Police seek info on Race Hill collision

Police are appealing for witnesses to a collision in Launceston on Friday 30th March 2012.

The collision took place at Race Hill near the Tesco superstore at 3.45pm and involved a young boy on a skateboard and a blue five series BMW car. The boy, aged 14, was taken by air ambulance to Derriford for treatment for head injuries, which were later described as minor.

Police are keen to hear from anyone who saw the collision or either the teenager or car shortly before the incident. Police are particularly keen to hear from a woman who was driving a burgundy car and stopped at the scene.

Anyone with information is asked to call police on 101 quoting reference 517 30th March 2012.

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Meeting with Police to discuss Moorland Road housing application

This morning I met with one of Cornwall Council's planning officers for our area and a representative of the Police Authority's property section to discuss the application to build two four bedroom houses on Moorland Road on the land currently used as a car park by the Police Station.

I've had a large number of local residents get in touch with me very concerned about this proposal - particularly about the impact on the local streets if 15 police station car park spaces are lost.

The application claims that lots of police jobs have moved recently to Bodmin or been lost altogether. They claim that they need fewer spaces and only need to create nine new spaces on the remainder of their land. I know that local residents don't agree with this and, despite the cut in the numbers based at the station, they say that there is still considerable congestion and that the problem is even worse at the beginning and end of the school day. And, whilst there has been a recent cut in the number of staff based in Launceston, there is nothing to say that this won't go back up again in the future.

I suggested to the Police Authority representative that they need to do more to prove that the overflow car park is no longer needed and that its loss won't cause additional pressures on local roads. As things stand, I have said that I cannot support this application and will call it to the formal committee to decide.

If you have a view on this application, please contact me.

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Anyone but Lance - the Tory search for a Police Commissioner candidate

The Conservatives seem desperate to avoid having Cornwall Councillor Lance Kennedy as their candidate in the elections to choose a Police Commissioner next autumn. Two MPs from the region have been tasked with finding candidates to oppose him in the selection contest.

George Eustice and Oliver Colville have been asked by Conservative Central Office to find alternatives to Cllr Kennedy. According to the Western Morning News:

Mr Eustice, David Cameron's former Press secretary, said the party is keen for non-political figures beyond former MPs and councillors to take part in the primaries.

A senior officer from the Armed Forces was the kind of "independently-minded" candidate the party wants to come forward, Mr Eustice said.

In previous statements about the role, Colonel Tim Collins, the retired army officer likely to be the Tory candidate in Kent, told his party conference that the
role was not suitable for:

"sunset councillors or retired policemen with axes to grind"

At one stage the party even suggested that they would not be standing candidates at all.

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50 new police officers or an elected Police Chief - you decide (actually, you can't)

I am staggered to read a piece on This is Cornwall about the cost of the election of the new Police Chief. It is said that this process will cost around £1.9 million in Devon and Cornwall - more than the total cost of the current Police Authority and equivalent to what it costs to put 50 Police Constables on our streets.

The Conservative plans are for the elections to take place in 2012 - at a time when the only other elections in Devon or Cornwall are for councillors in Plymouth and Exeter. That means that the total cost everywhere else will be borne by the Police budget and will be around £1.9 million.

This is just another reason why directly elected Police Chiefs should not be going ahead. The current system - a mix of elected councillors, magistrates and independent experts - provides low key but effective oversight of local Police and their budgets.

I fear that the new system will result in high profile 'crusaders' promising to stamp out particular types of crime - to the exclusion of all others - with little effect.

The law is quite clear that operational control rests with the professional officers from the Chief Constable downwards. But I am sure that newly elected chiefs will try to circumvent that process leading to confusion and the potential for corruption.

All in all, this promises to be a very expensive and not very effective change.

More assaults on the rights of photographers

I've blogged before about Police Officers who ignore the law and their own procedures and think it is ok to detain photographers for taking pictures in public places and often demand that they delete the images.

Now I read about 'Rail Enforcement Officers' who have taken to doing the same. This story is, regrettably, typical of some people in authority who have an important job to do but waste time detaining people they have no right to detain for actions which are in no way against the law. It also shows how badly trained these REOs are.

Hat tip: Thanks to Jonathan Calder at Liberal England for pointing me towards this.